27 Answers

Oh jeez…no, it is not a disorder unless it IS a disorder. If you aren’t actually diagnosed as a schizophenric or other serious disorder, it is benign. It could be a symptom of anxiety at times for some.
I, on occasion, whisper to myself under my breath, and I also talk out loud to myself at times, crack myself up with random thoughts. I’m a comedienne at heart and highly verbose and witty.

Unless it is something someone does all the time, it’s just a bit of quirkiness for most.

Some people just seem to “think out loud.” As someone with a strong internal monologue, I find the habit extremely annoying.

For example, such a person can’t simply, quietly add paper to a photocopy machine. There’s a nonstop oration of, “How do I open this thing? Oh, this much be the latch. Where’s the paper? I wonder how much I should add. Is this enough? Yeah, that looks good. It’s amazing how much paper we use around here…”

The key phrase is “without realizing it”
If you take voluntary action, without realizing it, you are at best severely neurotic, and probably psychotic.
I bet a lot that your friend is fully aware of what he is saying.
I think it is more likely that your friend is so self centered that he thinks he is entitled to act without any socially imposed restraints.
It is pretty common these days. Narcissism, solipsism, etc. Lots of names. They all describe what could easily be called the “I am special” disorder.

@jonsblond I think everyone does it occasionally, even those of us who usually keep our thoughts to ourselves. I wouldn’t worry. There’s nothing irritating about sometimes saying, “Now, where did I leave my keys?”. The annoyance happens when somebody turns an internal monologue inside-out and blab-blab-blabs without consideration.

Until it actually interferes with his ability to live a “normal” life (whatever that means anymore), it’s “an idiosyncrasy”, and not a disorder at all. I feel like it’s a trait that should have a name, though, and I’m not sure that I’ve seen the name in this thread yet. Maybe it’s time for us to make one up.

Most odd things that people do are not actual disorders. If behavior is causing someone distress over it, then they can see a therapist about it. There are some behaviors which are not technically diagnosable be certain therapies can help reduce them.
But if it doesn’t bother him, he is unlikely to do something about it. Even if a doctor gave him a diagnosis.

This is not by itself a sign of a mental illness. If your friend functions well in day to day life, then this behaviour may be harmless. If it starts to interfere with his functioning, a professional evaluation and assessment would be a good idea.

I have a PhD is psychology and even I engage in such behaviour sometimes.